Friendly Remiders About Village Income TAx

Published: January 17, 2000 12:00AM

If you live or do any business in the Village of Millersburg, you should be paying income taxes to the village. In preparing for the impending filing deadline, tax administrator Karen Shaffer is issuing a friendly reminder.

The village first started an income tax in 1969, and in 1999 the 1 percent tax made up 35 percent of the village's total revenue and 67 percent of the general fund revenue.

An aggressive campaign, started in December 1998, is partially responsible for the addition of more than 400 new income tax accounts in the last year, Shaffer said. In 1999, 31,058 returns were filed with the village.

Also due in part to Shaffer's efforts to locate non-filers, the village's 1999 income taxes collected, at $810,596, far exceeded the $698,092 collected in 1998.

Shaffer continues to cross-reference the village's tax records with the names and addresses of Millersburg residents and businesses who have filed income tax returns with the State of Ohio.

Village residents, regardless of whether they rent or own, are required to pay the village's income tax, as are people who work in the village, even if they live outside the village, Shaffer said.

Even when employers withhold taxes, individuals are required to file tax forms with the village.

Those required to pay taxes for services provided in the village include contractors, lawn services and physicians.

Individuals and businesses found to be delinquent will be sent a letter and a tax form. Interest and penalties totaling 3 percent of that due, compounded monthly, are mandatory but can be waived by the village's three-member board of tax review.

While employers are subject to penalties if they don't withhold taxes from their employees, the individual is ultimately responsible.

If an individual moves during the tax year, he is still responsible for paying taxes on what income was made while living in the village.

Individuals who do not have Millersburg Village income tax withheld by their employer or who are self-employed can make estimated quarterly payments.

In an attempt to find individuals who failed to pay in the past, the village can go back three years if the individual filed incorrectly and six years if he failed to file at all. To date, Shaffer has gone back to 1995 records.

Anyone who knowingly failed to pay income tax, or any employer who knowingly did not withhold taxes from an employee is subject to six months in jail and a $500 fine.

The deadline for filing 1999 returns without penalty or interest is April 15. Taxpayers can declare quarterly intentions for the coming tax year until April 30.

Shaffer currently is working with 40 delinquent taxpayers who have established payment plans, and she is preparing to file small claims suits against 20 individuals who have failed to respond to notification of failure to file.